Hey everyone! I'm looking for some advice for a tech-related issue my grandparents are facing. Their Windows PC is caught in an auto repair loop, and I'm hoping to recover their important files before I wipe the drive clean to install Ubuntu or another Linux distro. I've got a USB ready to flash Linux (possibly Mint), but I need guidance on how to access and save the files using a live Linux USB. I don't want to lose anything important, so I'll handle everything, just need some help getting started. Thanks a lot!
3 Answers
Check out some resources on the wiki migration page for Linux. They have some good migration tips and a lot of community advice that covers your situation really well. Also, make sure to use root privileges only when necessary and always verify your ISO checksums for safety!
To recover files, first, boot up the computer with your live Linux USB. Make sure to have a second USB drive ready and plug it in for transferring files. You'll need to mount the main storage drive to access the files. Booting into a live environment won’t make any changes to your system, so don’t worry! Just follow those steps and you'll be able to copy your grandparents’ important files over to the second USB.
You’re right! Distros like Linux Mint or Ubuntu are great for this since they come with useful built-in features to make the process easier.
When you open the file manager in a live session, you'll see a list of unmounted volumes. Look for one that matches the size of the Windows drive; double-click to mount it. After it’s mounted, you can start your recovery process.
Just a heads up: most Linux desktop environments will automatically mount your second USB drive, but you might need to mount the Windows C: drive manually. Familiarize yourself with how the `mount` command works beforehand. If your live USB has NTFS support, it should be pretty straightforward.